catch fire

catch fire idiom
  1. Be ignited, as in This wood is dry enough to catch fire. [c. 1600] Also see set on fire.
  2. Become inflamed with enthusiasm or passion, as in His ideas caught fire all over the country. [Early 1700s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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